What Is Managed Services and How Can It Help YOUR Business?

All  businesses, whether small or large, operateproviders or computer/network consultants, to
on a day to day basis looking to cut costs,keep networks, computers, servers and
increase production and gain profit. One undeniablehardware working in optimal condition as well as
necessity for businesses of today remains to bepreventing problems that "regular computer
computers and technology. Can you name ausers" (most business owners), would fail to
business that does not use computers as part ofnotice.
it's day to day operations...besides the "Paleta guy"Just the same as an automobile requires
on the corner?  NO YOU CAN'T!!maintenance to avoid catastrophic engine failure
Let's focus on small businesses today; companies(which in many cases the repairs cost more than
that have fewer than 50 employees, and a rangethe car is valued), so do networks and
of 1-30 computers (or servers, or workstations). hardware.  Some of the benefits that a
Due to the nature of computers and theirmaintenance plan can offer are:
likeliness to fail, many business owners have* 24/7/365 monitoring the health of servers,
developed the "break/fix" mentality. What is theworkstations, computers and hardware; to
"break/fix mentality" you ask?discover and mitigate possible problems that could
In other words many business managers andruin a business.
owners, feel that there is no need to worry* Managing (adding/removing) staff/employees on
about the maintenance of their computers ora network, preventing people without valid
data until something "breaks" or fails to workcredentials, from gaining access to confidential and
properly.  Unfortunately, there is a seriousprivileged information.
problem brewing, for most business owners and* Assuring that the anti-virus software installed on
managers, who are not pro-active aboutservers and workstations, updates properly and
maintaining their technology.contains the latest malware detection signatures.
Not applicable to all business types, businesses* Monitoring internet traffic to detect hackers
that provide services to clients and retainattempting to gain unauthorized access to the
sensitive information such as credit card numbers,network; in hopes of using the company's
social security numbers, mortgage records, healthnetwork to attack other businesses - while
information etc, can not afford to cut cornersconcealing their true identity and location. Also,
when it comes to their technology, network, andmonitoring traffic to detect hackers that will
sensitive data.compromise a company's network for illegal
Let's visit a scary fact: According to the Institutefinancial gain (credit card info theft, etc).
for Business and Home Safety, an estimated* Implementation of backup solutions. Ensuring
25% of businesses do NOT reopen following athat all data is being backed up to prevent data
major IT disaster.loss, as well as testing the backup for integrity, to
We all understand that statistics can be skewed,ensure the backup can actually be restored
but realistically speaking; does YOUR businesssuccessfully if needed.
serve customers that would lose trust in your* Implementation of power supply solutions.
security if they received notification that theirEnsuring that in case of a major power outage, all
personal information stored on your company'scomputers, servers, printers etc, will continue to
computer(s), had been compromised or stolen; orstay powered on to allow the users to save all of
even worse - used in identity theft?      their current projects, with no loss in productivity,
NO, they wouldn't! or loss data.
Let's envision a different scenario, that is actually* Network security implementation. Ensuring that
common in the business world. The owner of ana policy for network and internet access is put
accounting company decides to streamline hisinto place. Wireless networks are secured to
budget and call his "neighbor's son" to address hisprevent unauthorized users from "stealing" critical
computer network when there is a problem. Onedata, or connecting to the network to share it's
day, a hard drive failed on their file server, andinternet connection. As well, putting into place a
the company's financial records stored on thatpolicy that will not allow certain users to
server/drive, were not longer accessible. "Nojeopardize the integrity of a network (i.e.
problem" said the business owner.. "we haveconnecting to the company's wired network using
backup of this drive so we are fine."a wireless router and a laptop, thus exposing
Unfortunately, the backup was never tested, andsensitive information to the "outside world," due
the "neighbor's son" soon realizes that the backupto an unsecured connection).
copy that they have been using -  does NOTThe cost and terms of Managed Services Plans,
restore. The critical financial data is lost for good!vary depending on location, company needs,
To make matters worse, an audit of theinfrastructure and more. Costs can vary from a
company's books by the shareholders - isflat fee of $100.00 per month, per business -  to
scheduled for the next week. The business ownerseveral thousands of dollars, per month per
mentions that the financial records have been lost.business. It's recommended to contact your
Several of the share holders allege that theconsultant or consulting company, request a
owner has "cooked the books" and is simply hidingthorough "audit" of your network, and allow your
the  data from them. The shareholders decide totrusted IT advisor to advise what kind of plan is
sue in court, and are awarded a large sum ofneeded, what is covered, and what the price and
money. The business owner files bankruptcy andterms will be.
goes out of business.  Who ever thought backingIf your business depends on computers for it's
up data was THAT important?day to day operations, you can't afford NOT to
Managed Services is a proven solution to many ofhave some type of maintenance plan in place.
the current technology problems that plague smallDigital computer data is not necessarily reliable,
business owners, and can cause their businessesand it's not a matter of IF your hardware will
to close their doors unexpectedly.  Also knownfail.....but of WHEN your hardware will fail.
as Pro-Active Maintenance,  Maintenance Plans, Hopefully you have learned what Managed
Maintenance Agreements, Contract Business TechServices are, and how your business can thrive
Support, or Network Tech Support....the list goeswith this service, or falter without it.  Until next
on. time....
In a nutshell, this service is provided by IT service